Listening to British Nature

"Of particular interest is Guida's account of Enham Village Centre (Hampshire), a model community established to help WW I veterans reintegrate into society through engagement in an idealized model of English life, where veterans lived and worked on crafts at a preindustrial pace. Alongside wartime nostalgia for a lost world of peaceful existence in nature, however, Guida recounts the emergence of the BBC's public service broadcasting, signifying ""the beginning of a new kind of national listening"" and modernity. * F. Krome, University of Cincinnati--Clermont College, CHOICE * In this sparkling book, Guida establishes himself as a preeminent listener of the past. Listening to British Nature is an important book, subtle in its telling and striking in its implications for our understanding of historical acoustemology. * Mark Smith, author of A Sensory History Manifesto * By cleverly weaving together themes of nature, war, and broadcasting, Guida offers us an exciting new way to listen to - and to understand - twentieth century Britain. His book is clearly the result of meticulous research and deep thought. But it's also infused with genuine compassion for the people and events it describes. This is history at its glittering, exhilarating best. * David Hendy, Emeritus Professor of Media and Cultural History, University of Sussex * Listening to British Nature, the cultural and social historian Michael Guida looks at the interconnected relationship of nature and modern life by focusing on evolving listening practices in the first half of the twentieth century. * Helen Piel, Isis *"